From his position in his lab chair, Hank closed his eyes and slid another needle containing serum under his skin. It seemed like it hurt a little more each time he did it, ever since Laura's bones had bent and broken under the pressure of his hands.

However, not doing it was unthinkable, especially now. Claws didn't preform surgery the same way hands did, and he was glad he didn't have fur in the way. He glanced at the clock, and realized that it was only 1 p.m. While he had missed all of his classes, it meant school still wasn't out.

The thought that most of his students had experienced a normal day at school filled him with the closest thing to peace he'd felt in hours. Kurt's blood was still caked in the cracks between his nails and fingers after all.

He withdrew the needle and looked at the little timer on his desk. In a little over half an hour, it would go off, and he'd head back to the hospital wing. Kurt was waiting there to be checked up on and have another transfusion. To his surprise, Hank had learned that Erik had the same blood type as Peter, and he was only too willing to donate blood. At least he was helpful when it came to that.

There was another timer before that, set to go off so he could go and check up on Charles. He closed his eyes tightly for a minute. The idea that his oldest friend's heart had stopped while he was desperately trying to save Kurt's life was a jarring one. It was lucky Moira knew CPR, that Emma had thought to use her gift to figure out how to use the defibrillator. If not, he might have walked out of one operating room only to be met with another life he couldn't save.

The shock it caused was bone deep, but he couldn't dwell on it too much. Charles's timer was going off in twenty minutes, and Kurt's would go off fifteen minutes after that. He was glad that Raven had volunteered to sit up with Kurt, and, to his knowledge, Moira was still with Charles. He was directing some of the clean-up efforts, so he wasn't totally at rest, but he was in bed. That was something.

The door to the lab opened. Logan walked in, cradling Laura in his arms. Emma was hovering nearby, having washed her face free from blood.

"Do you have a minute?" asked Emma.

He smiled at them, but it was a weary expression.

"Of course," he said, "Especially for my new paramedic."

"It was nothing," said Emma, "I just...I just...helped. It was your knowledge I was using."

Hank got up.

"But you knew you needed it, and applied it well," he said, "I think that, if anything, today proved we need an expanded medical team. If you're interested in learning more, just let me know."

Emma flushed and swallowed. He did hope she would consider it though. He'd teach anyone who wanted to know how to avoid what happened that morning. Emma didn't answer him though and merely gestured to Logan.

Logan walked in further and set Laura down on one of the tables. She was frowning, and Hank hoped her bone claws weren't causing her more trouble.

"I wanna know if we can find out what it was that made her run off," grunted Logan, "Essex said it was some kinda trigger scent."

He jerked his head toward Emma.

"From what I've seen and what she's said, you're the science guy around here," he said.

"I said you were the science teacher and a doctor," Emma said briskly, "I did not call you the 'science guy.'"

Hank shrugged because, after everything that had happened that day, being called 'the science guy' was the least of his worries. He pasted on the most genuine smile he could muster and walked up to Laura.

"Hey, I have to draw some blood," he said, "It won't hurt much, but I have to use a needle. Is that okay?"

Laura nodded, not really looking up. Hank sighed and took out a syringe.

"Why do you need her blood?" said Logan.

His tone was accusatory and, for a moment, Hank bristled. However, given the fact that Laura only existed because someone had stolen Logan's blood, he supposed that, while it rankled, he had a right to be wary.

"I need to see if there are any sort of unusual hormones or other indicators," said Hank, "She just came out of whatever happened to her, so they should be present in some degree. Maybe I can find something to counteract what happened."

Logan gave him a short nod, and Hank felt an old, familiar irritation rise up. He'd barely gotten along with Logan when he'd come from the future to help them, only really warming up to the man after he managed to pull Charles out of his world of pain and self-loathing.

This Logan, while struggling, was not that man. Not yet. So, even though Hank knew he was just being protective of his daughter, he still felt some irritation when his eyes narrowed as he drew blood. He tried to make it as short as possible, knowing Laura's fear of needles.

"There, all done," he said.

She looked at him, still frowning, still glum.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Hank asked.

Logan raised his eyebrow. Hank knew it seemed like an obvious question, but he'd also learned that children felt better for being asked sometimes. Laura was also still learning social cues, and being asked was a simple but effective gesture.

"She was my mommy, wasn't she?" asked Laura, "That woman in the woods."

Hank cocked his head, but he saw Logan tense. Emma looked at him questioningly too. While Hank knew that Kayla had broken into the school with a collar clamped around her neck, he hadn't known that Logan and Laura had encountered her.

"Yeah," Logan said, his voice quiet.

Laura rubbed her nose with the palm of her hand.

"Did she smell what I smelt?" she asked, "That was why she didn't...when she looked at me..."

Logan closed his eyes, and Hank saw Emma bite her lip. He swallowed.

"No, but it was something like that," Hank explained, "Did you see that collar around her neck?"

Laura nodded.

"That's doing that," said Hank, "If that wasn't there then-"

"Then she wouldn't have hurt daddy?" Laura asked.

The words brought Hank up short. Laura quickly looked down, picking at her hands.

"Like I did," she murmured.

"Hey, hey," said Logan.

He pulled himself up on the table and sat next to her. Hank watched as he awkwardly put a hand around her shoulders.

"That wasn't you kid," he said, "That was what Essex did ta ya. I know. He did some things ta me too."

He held out his hand and metal claws slid out. Laura inched closer, lightly touching the end of one.

"Is that why they're not bone like mine?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Logan.

The claws slowly slid back into his skin, and Laura removed her hand. She leaned her head into his shoulder, and Hank saw Logan tentatively brush some hair from her face.

"Hey," he said, "If she...if she coulda, she woulda said somethin to ya. Chuck, he helped me talk ta her in our heads. Just for a minute but...she said ya were everything she dreamed of."

Tears spilled from Laura's eyes. She buried her face in Logan's side, and he wrapped both arms around her.

"Shhh, it's okay, it's..." Logan tried.

He gritted his teeth and swore under his breath. Hank knew he was struggling and, for a brief moment, was reminded of the way Raven would look at Kurt when he entered the room. It was as though she didn't know how to talk to him, how to do anything with him.

"Kid, I'm gonna tell ya a story," he said, "It's sad, but it'll make things make sense."

Laura looked up, still close. Hank turned away, trying to give the two of them some privacy, even as Emma moved closer. He busied himself with the syringe and quietly began putting away the blood sample so it could be tested for chemical reactions.

"It's somethin your mom told me. Ya see, the moon, she used ta have a lover," said Logan, "His name was Kuekuatsu, means the wolverine. And they lived in the spirit world together."

Hank froze. While Logan had used his first name when he visited from the future, Hank was also familiar with his other moniker. The idea that, perhaps, he was hearing why Logan had chosen it, chilled him.

"An every night, they would wander the skies together. But, one of the other spirits was jealous. Trickster wanted the Moon for himself, because he couldn't keep his damn distance," said Logan, his voice low "So he told Kuekuatsu the Moon asked for flowers, told him ta come ta our world and pick her wild roses."

"I don't like him," Laura said.

"I don't either," said Logan, "Because, here's where the story gets sad. Kuekuatsu didn't know that once ya leave the spirit world, ya can't go back."

Hank closed his eyes and put away the blood sample.

"And every night, he looks up in the sky and sees the Moon and howls her name. But... he can't touch her again."

He looked at the small group out of the corner of his eye. Emma was covering her eyes, but Hank could see the glint of tears. Had Kayla told her that story as a child? Was it another blow to her heart that, instead of Kayla telling the story to her daughter, it had to be the man she had left behind?

"But she still hears him," said Logan, "And your mom, she's gonna be thinking about you every minute until we get her back, because I am getting her back."

Laura nodded, boosting herself up so she could kiss his cheek.

"I trust you daddy," she said, "You're good at saving people."

Logan swallowed, and Hank could see his entire form shaking. Yet he didn't pull away from Laura, didn't even look down. Instead, he brushed her hair back delicately, and gave her a lopsided grin.

"I try," he said, "But, ya got one helluva bite on ya too kid. That helps."

Laura giggled slightly. In that moment, Hank realized that, yes, there was a good chance they had been friends in the future. If he could put himself aside to make a child smile, if he could care more about that moment than his own pain, then he was someone he wanted to be friends with.

Emma walked up and put a hand on Laura's shoulder.

"We need to get back upstairs," she said, "I know you haven't eaten and we missed lunch."

"Yeah," said Logan, "Yeah."

Laura slipped down from the table. Emma reached down and took Laura's hand, motioning for Logan to join them. Hank bit his lip, uncertain, and then moved to intercept him. Logan's eyes flared in anger immediately, but Hank didn't back down.

"I need to talk to you for a minute," he said, "Preferably in private."

Despite the mounting anger and irritation in Logan's eyes, Hank remained where he was. By Logan's own admission, he was stronger than he looked.

"We'll wait for you in the hall," said Emma.

"But I wanna-" Laura began.

"He'll be along in a minute, right Dr. McCoy?" asked Emma.

"Two at most," Hank replied.

"See?" asked Emma, "It'll just be a minute Laura."

Laura must have nodded, because he didn't hear any more sounds of protest. Logan's eyes looked past his shoulder until he heard the door shut though.

"Ya better have a damn good reason for this geek-boy," Logan growled.

"I think you need to know that the effect of the collars are, without a doubt, temporary," said Hank, "Probably very temporary."

Logan blinked, and Hank plowed on.

"All of the collar designs we recovered had one thing in common: they were all designed to have reloadable vials of serum," Hank said, "Now, while I don't know what's in that serum, I do know that they wouldn't have put that in there if its effects were permanent."

Again, Logan continued to look at him. Perhaps it was foolish to give him this level of hope, but Hank had been thinking about this since Raven had told him what happened after the surgery was completed. She'd thought she was telling him the details of Kurt's injury, but it had clicked with what he'd seen with the collar's designs.

"Her initial mission was, I think, to get Moira," said Hank, "But, after a while, her goal seemed to be to get away as fast as she could. When she fled, she didn't flee back to the school. No: she went to rejoin the others. I think that's because, after a certain time limit, she has orders to get back to her closest minder or meet them at a rendezvous point."

He breathed in, trying to marshal his thoughts, explain what needed to be done.

"I think she was running out of time when she was fighting them," said Hank, "And Essex is too smart to send her in when she was nearing the end of an hours-long cycle. I think it only lasts an hour, maybe a little longer."

"So...you're tellin me...next time I see her-" Logan began.

"I think you just need to keep her with you for an hour," said Hank, "And then I think it'll wear off. Easier said than done, I know, but, if you can, I think you can bring her home."

Logan stared at him for a moment longer before his eyes closed. His face pulling together tightly, and Hank could see the struggle there, the pain.

Then the timer went off and Hank moved past Logan, putting the timer and the one for Kurt into his pocket. He began gathering his tools, waiting to hear the door open and close as Logan left.

"Kid."

Hank turned over his shoulder to where Logan stood in the doorway, swallowing as he forced his face to relax.

"I...well...thanks," he said.

"Don't mention it," Hank said giving a sad smile.

Logan was, after all, a friend. Or would be, in time.

A/N: One more chapter.